


the ones worth suffering for

by Gilded_Moon



Category: The Witchlands Series - Susan Dennard
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet Ending, F/M, I'm Sorry, Implied/Referenced Torture, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Multi, Nothing described, is that going to far?, no beta we die like Safi and Iseult's trust in Mathew and Habim, not quite but close enough, perhaps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28694241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilded_Moon/pseuds/Gilded_Moon
Summary: Habim tortuered the Hell-Bards when they didn't even harm Safi and actively protected her. What would he and Mathew do to Aeduan who hunted down and tried to kill both their daughters?
Relationships: Aeduan/Iseult det Midenzi, Habim/Mathew
Comments: 7
Kudos: 9





	the ones worth suffering for

**Author's Note:**

> I really didn't intend for this to be as angsty as it turned out to be. Honest, I didn't. Anyway, beware angst ahead. Enjoy! - Moon

Habim and Mathew knew Iseult was in danger. It was simple fact when a young woman was traveling alone. But they never could have guessed how much danger their daughter was in.

Because as it turns out, Iseult was _not_ alone. She hadn’t been for some time.

She had been traveling with the _Bloodwitch mercenary monk_. The one who had hunted and tried to kill Habim’s daughters. Habim couldn’t imagine how the Bloodwitch had hurt Iseult.

Habim and Mathew had captured the monster in Tirla in the inn they were staying at. They had been eating dinner when the man, the _young_ man, had walked into the inn and straight to the inn keeper. Oddly enough, the monk hadn’t been wearing his Carawen cloak. Habim had wondered why as he stood and quietly made his way to the counter to stand behind the monk, so he could overhear the conversation.

*

_The inn keeper looked up and a look of recognition passed over her face. Habim wondered why fear didn’t join it._

_“Back again, huh? You look better than last time,” said the inn keeper._

Last time? If he looked bad, was he hurt? More importantly, was it Iseult that been responsible? I hope so, for her sake.

_The Bloodwitch shrugged. “I feel better too. I have some questions for you.”_

_The woman nodded her head in compliance._

_“The woman I was here with last time. Did she return at any point since we left?”_

_“No,” answered the keeper. “I haven’t seen her in the city since you all left.”_

_At that, the young man’s shoulders fell. He was clearly disappointed._

_Why? And who was the woman he spoke of? It had to be Iseult. This was the only lead Habim had as to her location or what happened to her. It had to be her. It had to be._

_“I… see. What about the child?”_

Child? Why in the Wells would this monster have a child of all things? He is too young to be a father unless he means an infant, but that is unlikely. He’d just kill a child, monster that he is.

_The inn keeper shook her head. “Ain’t seen her either. How’d you get separated anyway? Didn’t seem like your woman or your little girl wanted to leave you and you them.”_

_Pain entered the Bloodwitch’s voice as he answered, “I didn’t, and they didn’t either. W-we couldn’t help it.”_

_A good mercenary and a good actor too._

_“I will ask around. Perhaps someone else saw them,” the monk said._

_“I hope you find them, monk.”_

_The Bloodwitch nodded and turned to leave. Habim had to stop him before he left. He would_ not _let his and Mathew’s only lead on Iseult’s location vanish. This might be the only chance they had to find out where Iseult was and what happened to her._

_Habim grabbed the monk’s shoulder and said, “My husband and I saw a woman and young child pass through Tirla this morning. Perhaps they are the ones you search for.”_

_The Bloodwitch looked at Habim but, for whatever reason, did not seem to recognize him from Venaza City._

_After a moment, the Bloodwitch nodded. “Thank you. Could you tell me what you know?”_

_“Of course. We have a table, come sit and we can talk.”_

_Habim directed the monk to the table where Mathew waited. Habim sat next to his husband while the Bloodwitch sat stiffly in a chair on the other side of the table._

_“What did the woman and child look like,” he asked bluntly._

_Straight to the point. Habim could appreciate that._

_“The woman was Nomatsi as was the child.” Habim didn’t know what the child looked like, but Nomatsi was as good a guess as any. And a correct one if the monk’s body language was any indication._

_“Did you catch their names?”_

_Mathew jumped in and said, “The child called the woman Iseult. We did not hear the name of the child.”_

_A small, relived smile spread across the Bloodwitch’s face. “Iseult. And she has Owl too,” he whispered to himself. To Mathew and Habim he asked, “Do you know where they went?”_

_Habim nodded at Mathew. “No but we know where you’re going, Bloodwitch.”_

_“What-“_

_“You will follow us back to our camp,” Mathew said with all the force of his Wordwitchery behind his words. “You will not give any indication to anyone that something is wrong. You will stay silent unless we tell you to speak, and you_ will not _use or try to use your Bloodwitchery against us or anyone else. You will not try to escape in any way. You will obey any order that either of us give you. Now come.”_

_The Bloodwitch’s eyes bulged with anger and panic as he tried to fight against Mathew’s power. But Mathew’ witchery was too strong and the Bloodwitch complied._

_The three of them left the inn and returned to Mathew and Habim’s camp located by a blackberry thicket outside of Tirla._

*

That was a week ago. Since then, Mathew and Habim had tried to interrogate the Bloodwitch monk but results were… not ideal.

The Bloodwitch confused Habim. Every time he and Mathew questioned the monk on what he’d done to Iseult, with a Wordwitched command from Mathew to tell the truth, the monk insisted that he hadn’t hurt her. In fact, he had the audacity to ask if Iseult was safe.

The monster was obviously lying. No demon from the void would care about another being. That’s why they were called demons after all.

And yet, it didn’t matter what interrogation methods Habim used. All he got was the same lie of innocence and a plea to know if Iseult was safe. He tried anyway. Habim was glad the monk was a Bloodwitch since it allowed Habim to be rougher with monk than he would have been with a normal person.

During a cold night, Habim discovered that magicked flames deeply unsettled the monk. He’d stopped breaking bones after that.

He’d stopped entirely when he realized the monster was _terrified_ of Firewitches. Fear of Habim combined with Mathew’s witchery helped extract a few details about Iseult and her journey, but not enough to satisfy Mathew and Habim’s curiosity.

Apparently, the Bloodwitch and Iseult had traveled together, _alone_ , across the Contested Lands for two weeks before finding a young Nomatsi child named Owl, the little girl the Bloodwitch had been asking after. Then, Iseult, the Bloodwitch, and the child had somehow ended up in Tirla although the monk refused to reveal why. Something involving the Carawen monastery had separated the monk from Iseult and the child. The Bloodwitch _refused_ to talk about what happened.

He was a stubborn one. Habim liked that. It was rather impressive although it was foolish to hide information from them since Iseult herself would be arriving any day now, along with Safi.

Mathew had gone to his shop in Tirla, which was the original purpose of their visit to the city, and found a message from his contact, Prince Leopold fon Cartorra. The message said he had found Iseult and Safi and was bringing them to the prearranged meeting spot near Tirla.

Mathew had found the message two days after the Bloodwitch’s capture and returned to the small camp immediately. He and Habim had been relieved beyond words that their daughters would be arriving so soon. They had agreed not to tell the Bloodwitch since it would be a mistake to give him more information than he needed.

When Iseult finally arrived and saw the monster that had done her harm restrained and stopped, she would be able to sleep peacefully with that fact in her mind.

Habim only hoped that Iseult would not panic at the sight of the Bloodwitch. She didn’t have to fear him any longer.

*

Iseult was hesitant to reunite with her mentors. After what Safi had told her about what Mathew and Habim had done in Marstok, Iseult knew she couldn’t trust them anymore. But they were still her mentors, and they had offered the girls a safe place to stay and promised good news.

Safi and Iseult had no idea what that could be. Iseult hoped it was something good. Not something twisted or horrible, but something truly good.

Moon Mother forgive her for Iseult had been so wrong.

Iseult, Safi, Owl, Leopold, and the Hell-Bards met Mathew in the prearranged spot Leopold had told them about. The Hell-Bards took much convincing to return with their torturers, but they eventually agreed to return with Mathew although they vowed to leave if Mathew or Habim tried to hurt them again.

Iseult couldn’t blame them. They didn’t deserve to have to relay on those who had hurt them for survival. But nothing could be done about that. Iseult knew they needed help and so far, Mathew and Habim were the only ones offering any.

Mathew shook Iseult out of her thoughts by walking beside her and saying, “We have something for you Iseult.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The surprise we mentioned is for you,” answered Mathew. “The rest of you will appreciate it too. The good news will make all of you feel better.”

Iseult didn’t have time to respond before Mathew announced they had arrived at the camp. The Hell-Bards stayed along the tree line as Habim moved forward to greet Iseult and Safi.

“It is so good to see you both unharmed. We were worried for you,” he said. Habim opened his mouth to say more when a muffled cry interrupted him.

“Ishulf!” Then a pained “humpf” as Mathew viciously kicked the source of the cry.

Iseult turned with growing horror towards the source of the sound. When she saw what, saw _who_ had made the noise, Iseult couldn’t stop the scream that came out of her mouth.

It was Aeduan, hands and feet bound, mouth gagged with blood pouring from his now broken nose.

_What have Mathew and Habim done?_

At her scream, Habim had reached towards Iseult, clearly aiming for a hug, but she shoved him away and ran to where Aeduan laid on the ground.

Iseult ripped off the gag and severed his binds with her knife. She ran her hands all over his body to check for serious injuries while ignoring the cries of her mentors. Iseult found no injuries although Aeduan’s clothes were torn and covered in dried blood.

_What did they do to him?_

Iseult finished her examination and pulled Aeduan into hug.

“Aeduan,” she whispered. “I am s-so so-sorry. I d-d-didn’t kn-know what t-they were d-doing. I d-didn’t kn-know you w-were here. Wh-what did t-they do t-to you?”

Aeduan returned Iseult’s hug and pressed his face into her hair. “Iseult,” he said softly. “Iseult, I am fine. I healed. What happened to you? Are you alright? I tried to find you, but I didn’t get far before I was… stopped.”

Iseult was about to respond when Habim spoke up.

“Iseult, what are you _doing_?! Get away from that monster,” Habim spat. “He tried to kill you and Safi! And probably did all kinds of horrors to you while you traveled together!”

Iseult turned around but did not release Aeduan. Habim was now standing next to Mathew a few yards from where Iseult and Aeduan sat. Both men were seething with rage and confusion. Iseult looked past them to see Leopold holding Owl and keeping her face turned away from the camp. Judging by Leopold’s horrified expression, he had not known what Mathew and Habim were doing.

Safi looked just as disgusted and horrified. Iseult’s threadsister was shaking her head at the girls’ mentors and was slowly backing away from them. The Hell-Bards appeared to be in much the same condition.

“Iseult, why are you hugging a monster?!” This time it was Mathew who had yelled at her.

Iseult ignored him too. She pulled out of the hug, grabbed Aeduan’s hand, and pulled him to his feet. His nose was nearly healed but Aeduan was unsteady from the power his witchery was using to heal it.

Hand in hand, Iseult and Aeduan walked to the edge of the camp where the others still stood. Iseult took Owl from Leopold and held the child in her free arm. Safi and Leopold joined them, as did the Hell-Bards.

They would not, could not stay here. Not if Mathew and Habim would do things like this.

“Iseult! Safiya! Where are you going?” Habim shouted.

Iseult did not answer. Neither did Safi.

“Girls, stay here and talk with us,” said, or rather commanded Mathew.

He was ignored as well.

Iseult took a deep breath and took a step. Then another. And another.

The others walked with her.

This would have consequences. Iseult knew that she and Safi could not simply abandon their mentors, their fathers without anything of the kind.

But Iseult found she didn’t care. Mathew and Habim had made their choices and so had she.

The most important thing now was to find out what Mathew and Habim had done to Aeduan. Then they would need to make a plan about what they should do next.

For now, Iseult walked on, a child in one hand and her Bloodwitch in the other.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this didn't make you cry (too hard). Thank you for reading :D - Moon


End file.
